Australian Test great Matthew Hayden says the Big Bash Twenty20 League is key to the survival of cricket in Australia.
The 39-year-old announced he was coming out of retirement on Monday to play for the Brisbane Heat in this year’s revamped domestic T20 competition, which will feature eight city-based franchises.
Since retiring from international cricket in 2009, the burly left-hander has experienced T20 franchise cricket with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
He is putting his money where his mouth is over the Big Bash League’s future with his company, The Hayden Way, taking an equity position with the Heat for the next five years.
He told reporters his reason for coming on board as a player and investor stems from his belief that the competition must work to grow the game domestically.
“I love cricket and I’ve been inspired by cricket my whole life,” said Hayden, who played 103 Tests for Australia and is seen as one of the most explosive batsmen to play the game.
“I love the Baggy Green, I love what it stands for, I love how it fits within the sporting landscape.
“However, short of the Ashes and the Indian summer from a Test match point of view, I’ve said for a large time that I’m largely uninvested in that particular competition.
“For me, having now first-hand witnessed what that means from an entertainment proposition, within the IPL and now within the franchise, I know this is going to re-engage our fanbase.
“If mums, dads, kids rock up, watch the Brisbane Heat, and that is an investment they make that actually adds to them participating in our great game, then we’ll have done everything, both commercially and from a player development and participation point of view.”
Hayden called the competition “revolutionary” and, in an endorsement sure to have Cricket Australia (CA) bosses beaming, said choosing franchises separate from the traditional state structure was the right way to go.
“I am excited by how that engages a new fanbase, a new audience and the way I think cricket has adopted or is adopting Twenty20 as a franchise proposition will take this game as we know it to new levels and new heights,” said Hayden, who has had to relinquish director roles at both CA and Queensland Cricket to return to the batting crease.
“We may well be two or three years late – no more. This is where it starts and this is very important for cricket.”
On the field, Hayden is poised to create a potentially-explosive opening partnership with New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, who is also a Heat recruit.
“It’s a great challenge,” he said.
“The opportunity to get fit and be part of a sporting organisation which I know is the future of the game excites me.
“As long as I’m excited and as long as I’m invested into that space, I feel like I can make a huge difference.
“I think that I can add tremendous value inside the dressing room as well.”
Hayden’s former Test team-mate Andrew Symonds is reportedly another Heat target but he was giving nothing away when asked about whether his good friend would be lining up alongside him this summer.
“I can’t comment on that. I know that he’s catching some tremendous mudcrabs at the moment and who would begrudge him that?”
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